| Abstract: | For the first time, fractionation of zirconium and hafnium in carbonatized mantle xenoliths from the eastern Antarctic has been studied. An elevation relative to the chondrite values of Zr/Hf in the metasomatized xenoliths has been revealed. The main reactions of the carbonate metasomatism lead to replacement of primary orthopyroxene by secondary clinopyroxene. A substantial broadening of the clinopyroxene crystallization field results in an increase of Zr/Hf in an equilibrated melt due to a higher partition coefficient of Hf in clinopyroxene, relative to that of Zr. Migration of reaction-active carbonate and carbonate–silicate melts, equilibrated to metasomatic wehrlite, causes an increase in the Zr/Hf value in the carbonatized mantle substrate. |
